Around the ACC: League down to one in NCAAs

Monday

Mar 24, 2014 at 12:01 AMMar 24, 2014 at 11:53 PM

Brett Friedlander

5 POSITIVES 1. Broadway bound: Virginia overcame an early case of nerves to win twice this week, using the familiar elements of a stifling defense and a balanced attack to down Coastal Carolina and Memphis in Raleigh to advance to the Sweet 16 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. It’s the top-seeded Cavaliers’ first trip to a regional semifinal since 1995.

2. Hello, my name is …: N.C. State’s T.J. Warren got snubbed by most All-America teams primarily because members of the media didn’t bother to take notice of him during the regular season. Last week, they finally got to see what they were missing as Warren introduced himself by hitting for 25 points in an opening-round NCAA win against Xavier and 28 in an overtime loss to St. Louis.

3. McAdoo did: At 46 percent, James Michael McAdoo is a notoriously bad free throw shooter. But he came through in the clutch twice for North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. He twice converted one of two to provide the winning margin in an opening win against Providence. He then went 2 for 2 to tie the game in the closing minute before Iowa State came back to win on Sunday.

4. Stampeding the Buffalos: Pittsburgh hit Colorado with the same kind of early blitz it put on UNC in the ACC tournament on Thursday, opening the game with a 30-7 run behind the strong inside play of Talib Zanna. Unlike the ACC tournament, the Panthers didn’t take their foot off the gas — this time rolling to 77-48 opening round NCAA rout.

5. Heading for Broadway?: Sure it’s the NIT, but unlike all but one of their ACC rivals, Clemson and Florida State are still alive and playing. The Tigers are one win away from advancing to New York for the semifinals with wins against Georgia State and Illinois while the Seminoles can join Clemson in the NIT’s Elite Eight with a win against Georgetown.

5 NEGATIVES 1. Time out before timeout: Roy Williams doesn’t like to call time outs, but this time when he actually wanted one, his players didn’t see him. Instead, they quickly inbounded the ball after Iowa State scored the go-ahead basket with 1.6 seconds remaining. By the time Nate Britt finally tried to call time near midcourt, the clock had expired and the Tar Heels were eliminated.

2. Expensive throws: They certainly weren’t free for N.C. State against St. Louis on Thursday. The Wolfpack missed 17 times from the line, including eight by the usually reliable T.J. Warren to let a 14-point second-half lead slip away in an heartbreaking overtime loss in Orlando.

3. O for 3: Syracuse missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts in Saturday’s upset loss to Dayton, including Tyler Ennis’ potential game-winner at the buzzer. It’s the first time the Orange failed to make a trey since March 10, 1995 against providence, a streak of 665 consecutive games.

4. One-and-done: If, as expected, both Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood leave Duke for the NBA draft, their one-and-only NCAA tournament experience will be one they’d like to forget. The Blue Devils stars combined to go just 6 of 24 from the floor with seven turnovers in Duke’s stunning opening round loss to 14th-seeded Mercer.

5. King Karl: ACC referee Karl Hess embarrassed himself and the conference yet again by ejecting Nebraska coach Tim Miles over a shot clock error Hess later publicly admitted could have been corrected. This is hardly the first incident in which the noted control-freak has been involved in recent years. It’s amazing he continues to get high-profile assignments.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE WEEK The ACC celebrated when it got six teams in the NCAA tournament field, the second most of any conference nationally. But after the first week of play, only one of them remains after a disastrous week in which two of the league’s highest-profile teams — Duke and Syracuse — were taken down by double-digit seeds. It was also a bad week on the coaching front, with Boston College’s Steve Donahue, Virginia Tech’s James Johnson and, mercifully, Wake Forest’s Jeff Bzdelik all getting their pink slips. The Hokies have already found a replacement with the splashy hiring of Marquette’s Buzz Williams.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK Virginia’s Justin Anderson was the ACC’s sixth man of the year, but last week, it was reserve forward Anthony Gill that came off the bench to save the Cavaliers. First he contributed 17 points, five rebounds and two blocks in Friday’s come-from-behind opening-round NCAA win against Coastal Carolina. Then Sunday, he added 19 points, eight rebounds and two more blocks in just 19 minutes to lead a rout of Memphis.

STAT OF THE WEEK This is just the second time since the NCAA tournament expanded in 1985 that both UNC and Duke were eliminated in the first weekend. The other time came in 1996 when Duke lost in the round of 64 and UNC fell to Texas Tech in the Round of 32. It’s also the first time since 1979 that no team from the state of North Carolina will be in the Sweet 16.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Let’s not anybody lay it on the officials or anything like that. We didn’t call the timeout with 1.6 seconds to play.” UNC coach Roy Williams.

LOOKING AHEAD Top-seeded Virginia takes on fourth-seeded Michigan State in the East Region semifinals at Madison Square Garden on Friday. In the NIT, Clemson takes on Belmont on Tuesday.